Modern Usage
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In contemporary usage, enthusiasm has lost its meaning that someone is over excited and irritable.
The Enthusiast also refers to the "Type Seven" personality type (not to be confused with the "Type Three"/"Type A" personality) (Daniels & Price 2000). Some who fall into this modern definition of "enthusiasts" are adventurous, constantly busy with many activities with all the energy and enthusiasm of the Puer Aeternus (Peter Pan Complex). At their best they grab life for its different joys and wonders and truly live in the moment but, at their worst, they dash trepidatiously from one new endeavor to another, too scared of disappointment to actually enjoy themselves. Enthusiasts fear being incapable to provide for themselves or to experience life fully.
The term is sometimes used to describe the demeanor of fans of various activities or organizations, ranging from hunting aficionados to wine lovers.
Read more about this topic: Enthusiasm
Famous quotes containing the words modern and/or usage:
“... in the fierce competition of modern society the only class left in the country possessing leisure is that of women supported in easy circumstances by husband or father, and it is to this class we must look for the maintenance of cultivated and refined tastes, for that value and pursuit of knowledge and of art for their own sakes which can alone save society from degenerating into a huge machine for making money, and gratifying the love of sensual luxury.”
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—Kenneth G. Wilson (b. 1923)